Maybe a topic for a different thread, but, continuing on the matter of timing points that are no longer relevant...

Uffington (GW) is the boundary between route GW103 (Paddington to Uffington) and GW105 (Uffington to Fordgate via Box), yet Uffington Loops were lifted long ago, and all that's there now is a set of crossovers used for bidi working.

The December SA supplement has a local instruction regarding duplication of signal numbers LS1301/1303 at Lichfield and Stafford. ;How could that be allowed to happen, and surely it can't be that difficult to change them. As the Stafford ones are exit signals from the up arrivals and I cannot find the Lichfield ones so presumably are also GPLS, I would have though taking the Stafford arrivals sidings out of use until they were would have been the obvious action?

brick60000 wrote:Does anybody know if there are any plans to demolish or do any work on the boxes over the Christmas period?

No idea but a look at the map of the Stafford area on OTT reveals a T3 around Shugborough Tunnel as well as what I believe to be 3 (as I write this) engineering trains on the line from Norton Bridge to Stone.http://www.opentraintimes.com/maps/signalling/sta

Interestingly a train is also (as I write this) shown on the map as 1K61!

Both boxes are still standing - the waiting room at Norton Bridge was demolished although the rubble is still on the platform, the main work was two river bridges although several new banners have been erected presumably to allow removal of the 75 PSR from Little Bridgeford and it looks as though some OLE moved onto new structures

Will the east chord be available after the blockade - Crewe-Stoke-Euston services are showing WTT via Norton Bridge from the 29th, although I am sure when I looked before that week was split, then the following week over the flyover. XC trains have STP schedules over the flyover ThFO and WTT ones from 4th April, but shown via Norton Bridge on Friday and Saturday so presumably still a work in progress, as far as loading train times is concerned at least?;In the new timetable real time trains appears to show the Euston to Crewe locals as running SL from Stafford North Junction rather than Stafford station - is there actually such a signalled route and, if NR systems show the same, will ARS set up such a clearly nonsensical route?

Both boxes have had their frames largely if not completely removed, there have been two societies who have had the rights to the frames parts, electric locks etc. I understand that during the possession where No4 gets demolished a small team will be collecting some more bits from No5 (access is available only during a possession).

A local manager did mention he thought that the NRM had shown some interest in preserving at least part of the frame in No5, but he wasn't too sure if it was going to actually come to anything.

Going off at a tangent, I notice in the latest Today's Railways UK (subscription copies arrived a couple of days ago) there is a double page interior picture of, the now demolished, Henley-in-Arden signal box on pages 6 and 7 with an editorial write up lamenting the demise of such signal boxes.